I'm Done
by walkersystem
Summary: A series of connected one shots with different people discovering that Nathaniel is abused. Based off of the bruises seen in episode 12, but I haven't played all of the available episodes so it might take me a while to do a chapter for some characters. Also, I don't own My Candy Love. I always forget to say that in the first chapter so I'm putting it in the summary.
1. Castiel

He was surprised. Nathaniel could tell from the slight widening of his eyes, the way his fists clenched for just a split second before he slipped back into his nonchalant stance. His face took on an emotionless look as he watched Nathaniel move around the locker room, bruises and welts on full display. The observer was still trying to be quiet. Nathaniel smiled a little. Castiel didn't know that he saw him. Nathaniel knew he was being watched. He just didn't give a shit. He'd been hiding this for too long.

The night before his father had taken a belt to him for forgetting to do an extra credit project for English. Nathaniel had never been whipped before. Usually his father resorted to just tossing him around a bit. He'd end up with some nasty bruises by the time his father was finished, but nothing really bad. This would leave scars. So why should he try and hide it? If his father wasn't going to make an effort to keep this quiet than neither would he. There was just no point.

So Nathaniel took his time in the locker room, slowly folding and stacking his clothes. He made sure to twist and turn his body so Castiel had a good view of his injuries. When he was finished he gingerly shrugged his shirt over his shoulders and did up the buttons. His back was sweaty and burning. He probably had an infection because that's just the kind of shit luck life liked to give him.

Nathaniel slowly opened the door so that Castiel would have plenty of time to run away. Sure enough, by the time he left there was no sign of the red haired boy. Nathaniel knew Castiel wouldn't confront him about this. That just wasn't the kind of relationship they had. They hated each other more than most people could fathom.

Castiel would probably just use this information against him, call him weak. But the next day it was Nathaniel's turn to be shocked. He had accidentally bumped into Castiel in the hallway, making the scowling boy drop his magazine on the floor only for it be trampled by passing students. Nathaniel fully expected a scathing remark or a hard shove at the very least. Castiel's hand raised for a second, preparing to do the latter, but it slowly lowered again as his eyes focused on Nathaniel's shoulder, an expression akin to guilt briefly flashing across his face. Nathaniel looked down to see a bruise peeking out from under the collar of his shirt. By the time he looked up again, Castiel was gone.


	2. Lysander

Nathaniel had never seen anyone so angry. Not even his father had ever looked quite like what Lysander looked like now. His blue and green eyes, normally so calm and reserved, were sparking with fury. It was not at all what Nathaniel had expected. To be honest, he had expected a reaction similar to Castiel's. After all, Castiel and Lysander were pretty close.

Nathaniel was sitting alone at the table in the student council room when he saw Lysander out of the corner of his eye. The door to the room was open and the silver haired boy was milling around the hallway. His lips were moving silently as his eyes scanned his notebook. Nathaniel put down the book he was reading and rolled up both of his sleeves. Purple and yellow bruises decorated both of his arms. Some were clearly in the shape of a hand. He then shoved his book off the table, the noise causing Lysander to look up.

The reaction was instant. Lysander's body tensed and his eyes widened slightly in shock, then narrowed in anger. As Nathaniel picked up his book he studied Lysander out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't for the life of him understand what had gotten Lysander so riled up. Lysander was calm, collected. A few hand shaped bruises on a random kid's arms shouldn't change that. But it did. Nathaniel straightened and pretended to continue reading his book. His hands were clenching the pages so hard that they were starting to tremble. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. His stomach was starting to flip and he could feel his face getting hot. He could deal with Castiel's avoiding him. Hell, that was a blessing. But Lysander was having an unexpected reaction and that scared him.

What scared him even more were the footsteps coming towards him. When he felt the hand tap him on his shoulder he pretended to be shocked, fumbling with his sleeves and pulling them down. Nathaniel spun around in his chair and faced the still angry Lysander.

"It's wrong."

"What?"

Lysander motioned towards Nathaniel's now covered arms. "Whoever's doing that to you, what they're doing is wrong." Nathaniel swallowed nervously. He really had no idea how to respond to that. Lysander studied him, his eyes moving up and down Nathaniel's body. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"What?" He really needed to think of something else to say.

"Those bruises looked pretty bad. If you're hurt anywhere else you should make sure there's no damage."

"There's no damage." Nathaniel responded a little too quickly. Lysander sighed and gently grabbed Nathaniel's wrist, dragging him out of his chair.

"What are you doing?" Nathaniel asked in a panicky voice as Lysander dragged him down the hall. He didn't answer. Instead he continued to drag Nathaniel down the hall all the way to the locker rooms. They entered after Lysander made sure no one else was in the room.

"Strip."

"What!?"

"You heard me." Lysander crossed his arms and moved to block the door. "I need to make sure you aren't dying."

"_Dying_?"

"You could have a punctured lung, lacerated organ, anything really. If you have bruises all over your arms chances are they're all over the rest of your body."

"I think I would know if I were dying."

"Why were your sleeves rolled up?"

"What does that have to with anything?"

"You had your sleeves rolled up and the door was open. You were in plain view. Anyone walking by could have seen the bruises. So either you wanted someone to see because you wanted someone to notice and care, or you wanted someone to notice and help you because you're in danger." Nathaniel gulped. He didn't expect anyone to figure out his reasons so soon. Lysander sighed. "I'll make you a deal. Strip so I can make sure you aren't dying and I'll never speak of this again. Or you can tell me everything and I'll try to get you out of whatever situation you're in."

Nathaniel gritted his teeth. Neither option sounded particularly desirable but Lysander was still blocking the door and he knew for a fact that he would lose miserably in a fight against him. Nathaniel let out a shaky breath and started unbuttoning his shirt. Once he had it completely off he turned in a circle so Lysander could see all of the bruises and welts decorating his chest and back. He couldn't make himself look up to see Lysander's reaction. It was too humiliating.

"Pants too."

"What? I'm not taking off my pants! You've seen enough already."

"Either take off your pants or tell me how you got so beaten up."

"I feel like a prostitute." Nathaniel mumbled angrily. His hands fumbled with the waistband of his pants before he quickly shoved them down. His legs were in much better condition than his torso. Only a couple of bruises were visible, plus a couple of shallow cuts from broken glass. Nathaniel had spent almost five hours in the bathroom trying to get the glass out after that particular incident.

"Alright. You aren't dying." Lysander nodded approvingly.

"I could have told you that." Nathaniel quickly redressed and shoved his way past Lysander and out the door. He did not expect that to happen. He expected everyone who found out to be surprised but silent about the matter. After all, he wasn't really close with anyone in the school. No one should care too much. Except maybe Melody. He probably shouldn't tell her. He still wants people to know. He's sick and tired of the shit his father's putting him through. But he can't take another strip down in the locker room.


	3. Dajan

**Warning: There's some cursing in this chapter. Plus an OC. Please don't shoot me.**

The third reveal was an accident. A miserable, out of control accident. Nathaniel was sitting in the courtyard, studying for mid-terms, when a flurry of movement caught his eye. He looked up to see the yellow eyed guy from the basketball program (Derek? DJ?) arguing with another player from Sweet Amoris. Xavier. Nathaniel recognized him from all the times he had been shoved over or punched by him for no apparent reason. Unlike with Castiel, Nathaniel really had no idea why Xavier hated him so much. He'd never done anything to him.

The argument looked like it was getting pretty heated. Xavier was practically spitting in the other boy's face. The yellow eyed boy looked ready to punch him. Actually, he looked ready to beat him to the ground and then some. Xavier was waving his arms around gesturing to Nathaniel's side of the courtyard. Wait. No, he gesturing towards _Nathaniel. _Nathaniel stiffened and subconsciously tried to hide behind his notes. Nothing good ever happened when Xavier took notice of him. Raised voices floated across the courtyard.

"Come on Dajan! It's fun, trust me." Dajan. At least he got the first letter right.

"No! I'm not getting expelled over something as stupid as this! Do it yourself."

Xavier stormed away from Dajan, right across the courtyard and to Nathaniel. "Get up you shit!" Xavier growled, grabbing the front of Nathaniel's shirt and hauling him to his feet. He kicked at his assailant and tried desperately to push him away, but his bruises ached and the pain made his movements sluggish. Xavier dragged him over to the trees just past the benches and shoved him against one. All of the injuries on Nathaniel's back screamed their protest at once causing him to let out a choked sob. "Wimp." Xavier sneered.

Xavier pulled back his arm and punched Nathaniel right in the stomach. The blonde doubled over, tears gathering in his eyes. He was then promptly shoved onto the ground and kicked against the tree. Xavier drew back his leg and kept on kicking for what felt like hours. Nathaniel curled into a ball and just tried to wait until it was over. It had always worked for him in the past.

After a particularly ruthless kick Nathaniel was slammed back into the tree. His heart sank when he felt his shirt get caught on the rough bark. A loud rip sounded and cold air hit his now, once again, bloody back. Shit. It had taken days for the welts on his back to scab over and now all that progress was gone. Suddenly, the kicks stopped. The courtyard was completely silent.

Nathaniel cautiously lifted his head and tried to see what had caused the sudden mood shift. Xavier was staring at him with wide eyes, slowly stepping back and away from Nathaniel. Dajan, who had apparently been watching the entire time, looked like he was about to be sick. Nathaniel stood on shaky legs, letting his tattered shirt fall to the ground. "I- I didn't know." Xavier stuttered. "I swear I didn't know."

Nathaniel could do nothing but stand there and tremble in the cold. "You fucking idiot!" Nathaniel looked up to see Dajan dragging Xavier away. "I told you this would end badly, but _nooooo_. Someone had to be a big man and beat up the nerdy kid!" Dajan glanced back at Nathaniel, his face darkening at the red spots on his chest where new bruises were sure to form alongside the old ones. "Besides, it looks like he gets beat up enough."

Once the two boys had made their escape into the gym, Nathaniel debated on whether he should try to get his jacket from the locker room or just go home and skip the rest of the day. Never one to blow off school, he decided to chance the former. Most of the students should be in class anyway. Nathaniel hurried down the hallway, arms wrapped around his torso and head down. He had almost made it to the locker room (which was officially his least favorite room in the school) when he ran straight into another person.

He almost dropped to the floor from the sheer force of the impact when two hands grabbed his arms and kept him upright. He slowly raised his eyes to meet the ones staring down at him. Castiel. Shit. Leave it to him to skip class. The red haired boy looked downright shocked, a drastic change from his usual angry scowl. They stood there staring at each other for a few more moments before a single word was forced from between Castiel's gritted teeth.

"Who?"

"Who what?" Playing dumb at this point was more than useless considering he was standing half naked in the hallway, but Nathaniel decided to try it anyway. The grip on his arms tightened and Castiel leaned in, his face inches from Nathaniel's.

"_Who_?" It came out as a low growl. Fear sputtered in Nathaniel's heart. Before he knew what was happening, the words were tumbling from his mouth.

"Xavier. And Dajan. Well Dajan didn't- he just kind of... watched." Castiel's eyes raked over his entire body. Nathaniel could see the conclusions his mind was racing to. "No! I mean, they didn't make the old ones. Just the new ones. The old ones were made by...not them." Nathaniel's heart was racing and he wanted nothing more than to be curled up in a corner with something to study. Castiel's hands dropped from his arms, red marks mapping where they had been. Castiel's mouth opened when he saw what he did and for a moment Nathaniel thought he was going to say sorry. But instead the red haired boy snapped his mouth closed, pushed past him, and stormed down the hall.

Nathaniel, still shaking, ran the rest of the way to the locker room. He spent the rest of the day in a mindless haze of pain, his jacket wrapped comfortingly around him.

The next day everyone was huddled together in little groups, whispering furiously. Confused, Nathaniel approached Melody in the student council room to ask what was going on. "Didn't you hear?" The brunette said with a frown. "Someone beat up Xavier and Dajan! Did you know Dajan? He doesn't go to this school, he's in a sports program so he comes here sometimes. Anyway, it's just horrible. They had bruises all over! Those poor boys..." Melody trailed off, shaking her head. Nathaniel just nodded numbly. For the rest of the day he tried to figure out who could have possibly hurt the basketball players so badly.

He was walking into the courtyard when he saw him. Castiel was sitting on a bench listening to his MP3 player, eyes closed. Nothing unusual there. What caught Nathaniel's eye were Castiel's bloodied knuckles. No way. He couldn't have. Nathaniel hurried away from the courtyard repeating his little mantra. He couldn't have, he couldn't have, he couldn't have... But somehow, Nathaniel knew that he did.

**AN- Sorry Dajan fans, I've always thought he was kind of an asshole so I wrote him as one. He's not really a fleshed out character so I used this chapter to show some Castiel badassery. ;)**


	4. Jade

Nathaniel was scared. No, scratch that. He was _terrified. _This had all started out as a way to sort of get back at his father without him knowing it. But it was getting out of control. It seemed like Castiel seeing his injuries had opened a floodgate. Everyone was finding out so fast, and some people were even finding out by accident. The most shocking thing was that the people who knew actually cared, or got as close to caring as they could. Try as he might, Nathaniel couldn't forget Castiel's bloodied and bruised knuckles. Or Lysander's furious expression when he saw all of Nathaniel's injuries. Even the basketball team was now sending him pitying looks.

Nathaniel was determined to get control of the situation, and he figured the only way to do that was to involve someone he didn't know. Someone who had no chance of caring. He had seen the strange green haired green eyed boy around before. He vaguely remembered Iris telling him that he helped out the gardening club. So he wasn't even a student here. Perfect!

~O~

Nathaniel sat down among the numerous wilting plants and pulled out a detective novel. He had decided to skip all his classes to wait for the flower boy. Not normally something he would do, but given the circumstances Nathaniel decided that it was worth it. It's not like his good grades were pleasing his dad anyway. The wounds from the belting had finally healed, leaving thin red scars on his back. But the night before Amber had sneaked out and come home at 3 AM. His father caught her climbing through the window over the kitchen sink. Of course, his father ultimately blamed him, saying that he was a bad influence. It wasn't Nathaniel's worst beating, far from it, but now he had an impressive black bruise on his abdomen. A whole new injury to showcase.

A few hours into the day, the flower boy showed up. He was carrying a water can and looked pretty displeased at the state of the garden. Nathaniel hurriedly set his book down and stretched out on the ground. He made sure his shirt pulled up just enough to reveal the bruise, then pretended to be asleep. The sun warmed his face and it was actually kind of peaceful. The flower boy wandered around the garden, taking care of the plants that needed it the most. He was pretty quiet throughout the whole process, only a few murmurings here and there.

A sharp intake of breath from the flower boy alerted Nathaniel that he had been spotted. He heard the green haired boy's footsteps get closer and closer until they stopped right next to him. The leaves on the ground rustled as the flower boy kneeled down. Fingers ghosted over Nathaniel's bruise. After a long moment the flower boy sighed and carefully pulled Nathaniel's shirt down, trying not to wake him. The leaves rustled again as he stood up and continued to care for the plants as if nothing had happened.

Nathaniel continued to pretend to be asleep until he heard the flower boy leave. He sat up, shaking the leaves and dirt from his hair while smiling to himself. It had gone perfectly.

Right after school ended, Nathaniel searched for Iris, He finally found her in classroom A.

"Hi Iris." he greeted.

"Oh, hi Nathaniel! I haven't seen you all day!"

Nathaniel mumbled a halfhearted excuse for why he had not been in class, then he got to the point of the conversation.

"Do you know the name of the guy who helps out the gardening club? The one with green hair?"

"That's Jade. Why?"

"Um, someone was asking me about him...so I needed to know his name." Nathaniel blushed as he stumbled over his words. He was such a bad liar.

"Oh. Okay." Iris looked amused. "Well, you know he comes around here almost every Friday, so if you wanted to talk to him that would be the day to do it."

"Thanks." Nathaniel said, hurrying out of the classroom. He heard Iris laughing behind him. _Great. _Nathaniel thought. _Now she probably thinks I'm gay for Jade. _

**AN: I now ship Nathaniel/Jade. Why? I have absolutely _no _idea. **


	5. Iris

Iris was studying in the gym when Jade approached her. His hair was slightly disheveled and sweat ran down his neck, disappearing under his collar. He had obviously been working in the garden. Iris looked up, smiling at the green haired boy.

"Hey Jade! What's up?"

Jade shifted uncomfortably in his dirt streaked clothes. He really had no idea how to approach this...

"I saw a blonde boy in the garden last Friday. He had a white shirt on with a blue tie. Do you know him?" Direct always worked the best for him.

Iris suppressed a grin. The memory of Nathaniel stumbling over his words while asking about Jade flashed before her eyes.

"That's Nathaniel. He's student body president. If you wanted to see him he should be in the student council room." _Jade and Nathaniel. _She thought._ They would be such a cute couple! _

"Actually, I wasn't planning on looking for him. I wanted to ask you about him." Jade's face was completely serious. Iris's smile started to fade.

"If you want to know more about him, then you should talk to him."

"Come on Iris. Don't make me run around the school trying to get information. Just tell me about him." Iris's smile was now completely gone. Her face began to take on a worried expression, her eyes getting wider and her forehead crinkling.

"Well, all I know is that Melody really likes him. Nathaniel works really hard but Melody says it's all for his parents. I think they're pretty strict with him. But his sister, Amber, gets away with everything."

Jade nodded and appeared to be thinking.

"Is he clumsy?"

"Um, not that I know of. Why?"

Jade shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

"Well, does he ever seem hurt to you? Like, is he bruised a lot or does he play a sport or something where he would get hurt?"

"No. Why are you asking that? Is Nathaniel hurt? Should we take him to the nurse?" Iris fired off question after question, now obviously worried.

"I think he's okay. I just saw a rather nasty bruise on his stomach. Didn't look accidental."

"What do you mean it didn't look accidental? Do you think someone's hurting him?" Iris looked on the verge of tears. She hadn't expected this. Her hands nervously fiddled with her notes.

"Maybe." Jade murmured, "Just watch out for him, okay Iris?"

"Yeah, okay..." She looked miserable.

"Alright, I have to go." Jade smiled and stepped forward to give the saddened girl a hug. Iris watched Jade leave, still feeling on the verge of tears. _Who would ever hurt Nathaniel? _She wondered. Deciding that studying would be useless after this, Iris gathered her notes and headed to the student council room. Nathaniel was hard at work. His head was down and he was writing furiously.

Iris leaned forward and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. The blonde started and whirled around to face her. Iris didn't miss the slight flinch when he bumped against the table.

"Hey Iris. Is there something you need?" Nathaniel looked up at her, smiling and looking altogether helpful. A pang of sadness hit her. _No no no no no no! No one could hurt him. It'd be like kicking a puppy! _A voice in the back of her head informed her that Nathaniel didn't like puppies. He'd told her that once, but she couldn't quite remember when.

Nathaniel was staring at her, looking confused. Right. She needed to say something. But no matter how hard she tried, Iris couldn't get the image of someone beating a poor, helpless Nathaniel out of her head. It was _awful._ So instead of talking, Iris grabbed Nathaniel's arm and pulled him to his feet.

"What are you-" Iris wrapped her arms around Nathaniel, effectively cutting him off. Nathaniel returned the hug, but Iris could feel him frowning. When she pulled away, Nathaniel gave her a bewildered look.

"What was that for?" He looked so confused and out of place. It broke her heart. _How could anyone hit him? _Iris knew she was sensitive but it had never gotten in the way before. But now she couldn't even speak. A lump formed in her throat and the tears in her eyes finally spilled over.

"Iris? Why are you crying? Did I do something?" Nathaniel sounded panicked. She couldn't take it anymore. Iris ran out of the room, ignoring Nathaniel's shouts. She had almost gotten to Classroom B when a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her arm, causing her to stop suddenly and drop her notes.

Lysander stared down at her, looking confused.

"Are you okay?" Iris wiped the tears from her face and nodded. Lysander looked doubtful.

"Really, I am." She lied. Lysander had just opened his mouth to reply when Nathaniel came jogging down the hall.

"Iris! Why'd you run out? What did I do?" One look at the blonde and Iris was back in tears. Lysander appeared more confused than ever. He looked at Nathaniel, asking a silent question. The blonde shrugged helplessly. Iris dropped to the floor and gathered her notes. Once she had stood back up, she looked straight at Nathaniel.

"Please be careful." She begged.

"O-Okay." He still looked completely confused.

"I don't want you hurt." Iris clarified. "Just, be careful." And with that, she clutched her notes to her chest and walked away, tears still sliding down her face.

Lysander stared Nathaniel down.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Then why would she say that?"

"No idea." Nathaniel glared at the silver haired boy, arms crossed. Lysander scanned Nathaniel's body, searching for injuries. Considering the blonde was wearing long sleeves and pants, he didn't see any. Lysander sighed and reached for the other boy's arm. The reaction was instant.

"No way! Nuh-uh. I am _not _going in that locker room again. Besides, you said you would leave me alone about this." Lysander dropped his arm, looking thoughtful.

"You're right. I did say I would leave you alone." Lysander promptly walked away. Nathaniel stood alone, staring in the direction Lysander had gone. He couldn't believe that the other boy had let it go so easily. After the other incident, Nathaniel had come to think of Lysander as someone who would never let anything go. This was weird.

The blonde shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and shuffled down the hallway, head down. He hadn't gotten far when Lysander came back into view. But this time he was dragging someone behind him.

Nathaniel's eyes widened in shock when he saw who that someone was. Castiel looked furious. Once the pair reached Nathaniel, the red haired boy yanked his arm out of Lysander's grip. The silver haired boy looked smug. Castiel stared Lysander down, fists clenched and at his sides. Lysander gazed back, unwavering. Nathaniel stood awkwardly to the side, wondering if he should just make a run for it. After a long, tense moment, Castiel growled in anger and spat out one word.

"Fine."

Lysander grinned victoriously.

"You owe me." Castiel grumbled. The red haired boy turned and grabbed Nathaniel's arm, none too gently, and proceeded to drag him to the locker rooms.

"Hey!" Nathaniel cried out. "You promised you'd leave me alone!"

Lysander smiled.

"I did. But I don't believe Castiel made any such promise."

They reached the locker room in a matter of seconds. Castiel promptly shoved Nathaniel inside and closed the door. Lysander remained right outside the door. Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest and backed away from Castiel.

"I'm not doing this again."

Castiel sighed angrily and approached the blonde. Nathaniel backed up until his back hit the wall. The red head was still walking towards him menacingly. Before he even knew what was happening, Castiel grabbed him and forced him out of his shirt.

"Hey!" Nathaniel yelped. His shirt was unbuttoned and his arms were forced out of the sleeves. The white button down was carelessly tossed to the side. Castiel stood back and examined Nathaniel's chest. His eyes darkened when they landed on the black bruise splayed across the blonde's stomach. Once he was satisfied with the state of Nathaniel's front, Castiel grabbed his shoulders and forced him to turn around. Nathaniel couldn't see him, but he could feel Castiel's hands tightening on his shoulders once the scars were visible. After what felt like a century, the hands dropped.

Nathaniel turned back around and met Castiel's stare. The red head jerkily nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright. You're good."

"Wait, you're not going to..." Nathaniel glanced meaningfully down at his pants.

"I am _not _taking off your pants." Castiel sneered. He took one last look at Nathaniel, then stormed out of the locker room. Nathaniel stood still for a while longer. He couldn't even process all that had happened today. Eventually he gave up trying and went to look for his shirt.

~O~

Lysander stood outside the locker room, waiting for Castiel. The red head came out grumbling and looking altogether unhappy. It didn't take long for him to fix his furious gaze on Lysander.

"You owe me." He growled.

"No I don't" Lysander smiled, looking at Castiel knowingly.

"What?" Castiel snapped.

"You wanted to do it. You wanted to be sure he was safe."

"Where the hell did you get that idea?"

Lysander smiled and shook his head, walking away from his friend. Castiel stood outside the locker room, listening to Nathaniel fumbling around. No. No way. He hated the freak. Lysander was out of his mind. Castiel scowled, pulling out his MP3 player and shoving on his headphones. He headed out to the courtyard, frowning the entire way.

**AN: Meh, I'm not too crazy about the ending. Oh well. This was originally just going to be Jade talking to Iris but then I figured that I should include Iris interacting with Nathaniel. Then I thought 'I want to write Lysander again'. And thenI thought 'I want Lysander interacting with Castiel'. And _then _I thought 'Castiel should interact with Nathaniel'. Then I realized that I spent all day eating knock off slim jims and writing fanfiction. Crap.**


	6. Rosalya Part 1

There was something wrong with Lysander. Rosalya had first noticed it a few days after the orienteering race. She had just finished visiting with Leigh in the courtyard, they only had a few minutes since he had to go to work soon, when she spotted Nathaniel. His head was down and his hands were stuffed into his pockets. His entire body was tense to the point that he was almost shaking. Rosalya was debating on whether or not to talk to him and see if he was alright, when her boyfriend's brother came into view.

Contrary to Nathaniel's palpable anger, Lysander was visibly relaxed. His notebook was out and he was leafing through it while walking, expertly avoiding obstacles. Nathaniel stormed straight to the student council room and closed the door behind him. Rosalya half expected him to slam it, considering the way he was acting. Deciding that she had to know what was going on, Rosa walked straight up to Lysander and waved her hand in between him and his notebook.

"Hi Lys-baby," She smiled.

"Hello Rosa. You just saw Leigh right? How is he?"

"Oh, he's fine. A little bummed he has to go to work. He doesn't get off until 10."

"That's unfortunate." Lysander raised his notebook again and started to walk away, apparently deciding that the conversation was over. Rosalya sighed. That boy had the attention span of a flea. She reached out and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to her. Lysander arched an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly.

"I take it you have something else to say," He said with a little half smile.

"Yes, actually. You might want to work on not leaving after you've contributed about two words to a conversation," Rosa glared at him. Lysander frowned.

"Is that all?"

"No. Have you talked to Nathaniel recently?"

Rosalya could have sworn that a flash of nervousness went through Lysander's eyes at the question. He shifted from foot to foot and fiddled with his notebook, his eyes fixed on the ground.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

He was lying. Badly. Rosalya frowned and studied her friend. Lysander's eyes were darting around, never quite fixing on anything. He _never _acted like this. Lysander was always so calm and collected. Something had to be really wrong for him to be so anxious.

"Are you okay Lys-baby?"

Lysander's eyes met hers for a split second before they dropped back down. In that second she could have sworn she had seen anger in the yellow and green orbs.

"_I'm _perfectly fine," Lysander said. The silver haired boy then opened up his notebook and continued down the hall. Rosa decided that this time she definitely shouldn't stop him. Instead, she stood in the hall for awhile, pondering. She had never seen Lysander so... emotional. He went from nervous to furious in sixty seconds. It was just so unlike him. Come to think of it, even the way he had spoken was strange. _I'm _fine. Why was he so focused on the 'I'm'? Was she just over analyzing? Deciding that she was never going to be able to figure out what Lysander meant, Rosalya went searching for Iris to talk.

~O~

Rosalya was furious. It seemed like everyone but her was in on something big. Lysander had been acting weird ever since that first encounter in the hallway and Castiel was acting similarly. All of the sports program students seemed wary of coming to Sweet Amoris. Jade looked a little more solemn when he came to tend the garden. Worst of all, Iris seemed to be affected by something too and she wouldn't confide in her. Rosalya honestly didn't understand why. She and Iris were friends, they shared almost everything with each other. The fact that Iris wouldn't tell her anything now must mean that whatever was bothering everyone had to be really bad.

Rosa decided that enough was enough. If no one would tell her what was going on, then she would just have to figure it out herself. Since Lysander and Castiel were the first ones to start acting differently, Rosalya went to talk to them first. Of course, as soon as she decided that, she couldn't find them anywhere. They weren't in the courtyard, the hallway, and Rosa knew it was useless to check the classrooms. Especially since Castiel was getting more and more inclined to skip every class. Why he even showed up to school, she didn't know.

Rosalya sighed. She had reached her last option. Leigh had told her about Castiel and Lysander's late night band practice in the school a few months ago, but she had never gone to hear them play. Never really wanted to, actually. She loved them both to death but their music was just...not good. Worse than not good, but she didn't want to be mean, even if only she knew what she thought of their music. But if staying after school was the only way to figure out what was going on, then she would have to do it.

~O~

This was creepy. _Really _creepy. The school was dark and eerily silent. Rosalya wrapped her arms around herself and walked with her head slightly down. Her footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallway as she made her way towards the staircase. As she got closer, Rosa began to hear the clangs and screams coming from the basement. She shivered and continued to walk, glancing behind her every few seconds. Rosa was beginning to understand why Candy thought there was ghost in the school.

A few moments later, Rosalya reached the basement door. Bracing herself, she tentatively reached out and turned the knob. Music blasted out through the open door, making her stumble back and clamp her hands over her ears. The open door showed Lysander leaning against the far wall, throwing popcorn at the floor. A few steps closer and she could see Castiel lying on the floor, trying to catch the yellow bits in his mouth.

What the...

**AN: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I've been trying to write this for forever but every sentence I wrote sounded like crap... I'm still not at all happy with this chapter, especially since it was supposed to be only one part and a whole lot longer. But I figured that it would take me forever to complete, so I just cut it off and posted this part. Even though it's short, I hope you liked it! **


	7. Rosalya Part 2

**Warning: Little bit of cursing in this chapter. **

Previously

_A few moments later, Rosalya reached the basement door. Bracing herself, she tentatively reached out and turned the knob. Music blasted out through the open door, making her stumble back and clamp her hands over her ears. The open door showed Lysander leaning against the far wall, throwing popcorn at the floor. A few steps closer and she could see Castiel lying on the floor, trying to catch the yellow bits in his mouth. _

_What the..._

~O~

Rosalya froze in shock. The two boys hadn't noticed her yet, so they continued on with their game. A stereo sat in the far corner of the dingy room, blasting heavy metal. Castiel's guitar was lying innocently on the floor, unplayed. Lysander continued to throw popcorn at the floor as Castiel rolled around and tried to catch all of the pieces. The red haired boy was tumbling around the room and still managing to fail miserably at catching anything.

His jacket hung around his elbows rendering his arms useless. Watching him, Rosalya was reminded of someone having a seizure. Castiel's legs were flailing around while they tried to scoot him across the room. Lysander was biting his tongue, obviously trying not to laugh. Just as she was about to enter the room, one of Castiel's legs kicked out and knocked over the mike stand in the center of the room. It toppled to ground, letting out a loud screech and breaking as it hit the hard floor.

"Oh shit!" Castiel leaped up and pulled his jacket back up his arms as Lysander dropped the bowl of popcorn. Kernels bounced across the floor, disturbing the yellow bits already resting there. Lysander reached over and turned the stereo way down so that the music was a low hum instead of an unbearable racket. Both boys stared at the destroyed mike, dumbfounded. Watching them gape at the floor, Rosalya suddenly found her voice again.

"You're not even playing!" She yelled. Lysander's head shot up in surprise as Castiel's face turned bright red. Apparently he wasn't too pleased that someone other than his best friend had seen his flailing. "You spend all this time down here, keeping your 'practice' _so _secret and all you're doing is throwing popcorn! Do you ever actually play or do you just come down here to act like five year olds?" Rosalya crossed her arms and stood in the doorway, waiting for an answer.

Castiel knelt on the floor and inspected the broken mike, his face getting redder and redder. Lysander glanced down at his friend a slightly amused look crossing his face.

"We spend most of our time down here practicing but occasionally we take a day to rest," Lysander explained. "Might I ask what you are doing down here? Leigh gave me the impression that you do not care for our music."

Rosalya huffed angrily. She had told Leigh that in confidence! Although, technically she had never said that the music was bad. She just sort of refused to go to any of the practices Leigh wanted her to go to. Maybe she was too obvious...

Castiel frowned and stood back up, crossing his arms defensively.

"Why don't you like our music?"

Rosalya glared at Castiel.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, actually. It does." Castiel stalked forward menacingly. The two teens faced each other, both of their arms crossed and both glaring. Lysander sighed and cleared his throat.

"Before you rip each others heads off, do you mind answering my question Rosa?"

Rosalya nodded and walked into the room, bumping purposefully into Castiel. The red haired boy gritted his teeth, muscles clenching ever so slightly.

"I actually wanted to ask you about Nathaniel," She said. Lysander and Castiel both stiffened, eyes glued to the ground. "See?" She said exasperatedly, pointing to both of them. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Everyone gets so weird whenever he's mentioned. What's going on?"

Lysander walked over to Castiel and whispered something in his ear. The red haired boy shook his head and whispered something back. Rosa waited patiently as the two friends continued to argue in hushed voices. After a few more exchanges, Castiel shoved his hands in his pockets while Lysander smiled triumphantly. Rosalya smiled as well. It was always fun to watch them argue, considering Lysander _never _lost.

"Alright," Lysander said. "We'll tell you."

Castiel grumbled and shoved his hands further into his pockets.

"Nathaniel has...injuries. A lot of them. Frequently," Lysander looked slightly uncomfortable as attempted to explain. Rosalya frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone's hurting him, genius," Castiel growled.

"We don't know that for sure," Lysander cut in.

"Well, what sort of injuries?" Rosalya struggled to understand.

"Bruises, welts," Castiel said.

"A few cuts," Lysander added.

"That's terrible!" Lysander nodded firmly while Castiel shrugged. He looked completely uninterested.

Rosa sat down on the hard, cold ground, struggling to understand.

"But, who would want to hurt him?"

Both boys shrugged.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out," Lysander said.

Rosalya nodded in understanding. Then her original reason for coming to the basement pushed it's way to the forefront of her mind.

"Is that why everyone's been acting so strange?"

"Probably," Castiel answered, "We're pretty sure Iris and the garden boy know. The sports program freaks definitely know."

Rosalya detected a hint of anger in his last statement, but she wrote it off as Castiel being Castiel. She rubbed both of her hands over her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why isn't anyone trying to help him?"

Lysander and Castiel looked at each other.

"I promised Nathaniel I'd let it go," Lysander said. Rosa took her hands off her face and looked up incredulously.

"And that stopped you?" She said, anger dripping into her words. Before Lysander could respond, Rosalya stood up and turned to Castiel.

"And what about you? You didn't make a promise. Why aren't you helping him?"

Castiel looked furious. He jerked his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms defensively.

"Why would I help him? I hate the bastard!"

Rosalya shook her head.

"You and I both know that isn't true."

With that, she stormed out of the basement. The dark halls looked extremely less threatening when she was pissed off. Rosalya knew that someone had to do something and those two cowards in the basement were not going to be of any help. Luckily, she knew exactly who to talk to.


	8. AN

**Warning: I like to curse. A lot.**

**AN: Okay, so I hadn't actually played episode 12 when I started this fic. But now I'm _finally _getting the episode started and apparently the locker rooms are in the gym. Fuck. I asked an online friend where they were and she swore up and down that they were right at the end of the hallway, which now that I think about it, makes absolutely no sense. I didn't even think about it! My stupid ass just assumed it was normal for locker rooms to be as far away from the actual gym as possible. Yup! Completely normal. **

**So, for the rest of this fic we're just going to have to pretend that there is a special locker room at the end of the hallway where all sexy strip downs take place. Sounds good to me. **

**AN 2: I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry that I haven't updated! I found this site called Quotev and it sucked me in and never let me go. O_O Then I started reading stuff on AO3 and I can officially say that I hate . Oops. I'll still be posting all of my writing on here though so this story will be updated eventually. :) Most likely in the next couple of days. Thanks for being so patient guys!**


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